The increasing wave height in the North Atlantic Ocean

Abstract

There are indications that the mean significant wave height at Seven Stones Light Vessel has increased in the period 1960-85. This is of considerable interest for the design of offshore structures and for coastal defense. In this note, the authors present new results based on the analysis of a collection of more than 20 000 hand-drawn wave charts. These charts were produced routinely between 1960 and 1988 in a manner that remained essentially unchanged throughout this period. The results are in remarkable agreement with the trend observed at Seven Stones Light Vessel.